Forte
by Elf Asato
Summary: 83. Hakkai and Sanzo sit in the jeep while Gojyo and Goku sleep...


**Title:** Forte  
**Author:** Elf Asato  
**Summary:** 83. Hakkai and Sanzo sit in the jeep while Gojyo and Goku sleep...  
**Disclaimer:** _Saiyuki_ obviously doesn't belong to me.  
**Notes:** This is for the 383 Mafia - you all know who you are! Even though it has no plot and virtually little point, I needed to write something sweet and non-subtle... And I totally bullshitted the characters, by the way. Let it not be said that Sanzo is incapable of bad attempts at humor. The excitement-fix idea was not-so-blatantly taken from Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a book which I hated so much that I hoped to forget...but remembered something from it anyway. Damn.   
  


**Forte**  
_By Elf Asato_

  
  
The sound of crickets chirping accented the gentle brook nearby, but, unfortunately, did not mask Goku and Gojyo's snoring, which completely skewered what might have been a calm, peaceful, and perhaps romantic night. In the comfort of the silent, yet still asleep jeep, Sanzo lit a cigarette and Hakkai sighed, leaning against the metal door and looking out into the vast night sky. It was peaceful, yes, an experience that rarely came when wanted, but boring at times like these...where such tranquility was unwelcome.  
  
Living life on the edge did not have the expected consequence - a desire for peace; instead, there was that constant thirst for the next fix...and a certain level of excitement needed to be maintained or else it would feel like nothing had ever happened. It was frustrating being the Sanzo-ikkou at times, and even more frustrating was the fact the none of them actually wanted to admit this.  
  
While, fortunately, the party encountered plenty of youkai hoards and other such distractions, there were excruciatingly dull moments in between. And in those moments, fights broke out - real arguments and those just for play - and individuals came together in mental enthusiasm, perhaps emotional during rough spots, but more often than not, through physical acts. None of this was spoken of, though, because it was understood that what occurred usually did so out of physical necessity. Purely physical necessity.  
  
So it went without saying that no one really wanted to consider what would happen if physical and emotional unions overlapped.  
  
Especially Sanzo and Hakkai.  
  
Irony was beautiful.  
  
Hakkai was someone who could find beauty, however perverse it may be, in everything. He found beauty in how his two companions' snoring coincided at times and produced a dull vibration due to the slight differences of tune - he also found beauty in the fact that he could tell such things - and he especially found beauty in Sanzo and their relationship.  
  
He turned his head to glance at Sanzo's still form, the cigarette still lit and dangling tantalizingly from the monk's lips. Such a view elicited a physical reaction, yes, but that was all there was Hakkai swore, really. He didn't want to think that he might have feelings for the other because nonattachment was certainly a must and there was no room for emotion in such a case. No room at all, so Hakkai didn't even consider it although he knew it was there and growing. There was nothing to think about other than what he felt below, so when the two physically came together, Hakkai put all he didn't think about into his actions and wondered if Sanzo shared the same feelings he didn't consider as well.  
  
It was all terribly confusing to him, so he didn't like to think about it, and instead concentrated on playing housewife simply because he had the ability that everyone else seemed to lack.  
  
Sanzo chose that moment to move; he took one last drag from the cigarette before offering it silently to Hakkai, who took the thin stick between his fingers as if he had done so many times before and gave it a reflective glance before stubbing it out in the ashtray.   
  
There were few distractions left between them now.  
  
"Ah...what a peaceful night, eh Sanzo?" Hakkai spoke softly, his eyes cast to the sky, and his hand rest gently beside Sanzo's still one, barely touching in what seemed like a strained attempt to simply be near. "No clouds in sight, and what a pleasant breeze..."  
  
"Their snoring," Sanzo muttered as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the backseat, "can hardly be considered peaceful, and the crickets are annoying."  
  
Hakkai found the crickets relaxing, but he said nothing to contribute to the growing tension that always came out of the two being alone together. Not the type of tension that cannot be stood, but...  
  
Despite the minor vexations each subjected the other to, it was never unpleasant between them.  
  
"What I mean to say is that this is the sort of night that's always dreamed of," Hakkai clarified as he continued, "the sort of night that seems so perfect, even if the situation leaves something to be desired. Quite romantic."  
  
Sanzo turned his head slightly to look at the brunet and raised an eyebrow as his hand deftly reached for another cigarette out of a pack. "What's so romantic about this?"  
  
Hakkai had to surpress a sigh. "The night, Sanzo. Even with the snoring and crickets chirping, surely you must agree that those annoyances are mollified in such an atmosphere?"  
  
"Not really. This isn't exactly my idea of romance," he replied evenly as he placed the cigarette between his lips and let it dangle slightly with no attempts to light it.  
  
"Then what is?" Hakkai inquired, facing Sanzo fully with a challenging, yet expectant expression.  
  
Sanzo thought about this for a moment before answering, "I don't have one."  
  
Had there been another answer, perhaps Hakkai would have been surprised. Instead, he smiled and said, "Well then, Sanzo, please don't criticize what I find romantic."  
  
A look of mild vexation was directed at Hakkai. "You're the one who brought it up. Did you just expect me to nod my head and agree?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Almost deadpan, Sanzo replied, "Why, now that you mention it, this night is truly romantic. The crickets and constant snoring of our dear friends back there fills me with such a yearning for my soul mate."  
  
Silence prevailed but for a few moments.  
  
"...Will you just light that cigarette already?"  
  
"But I thought it was romantic," Sanzo half-heartedly protested as Hakkai removed it from his lips and reached inside the monk's robes for the lighter.  
  
A lopsided, yet muted smile graced Hakkai's features as he muttered, taking the lighter out from the robes, "If you won't light it, I will." Keeping his eyes on Sanzo, he brought the cigarette to his lips and the lighter flickered, its dull flame producing a red glow on the white stick.   
  
The monk seemed interested.  
  
Hakkai leaned over with the cigarette back between his nimble fingers and returned it to Sanzo, who gazed at him with an odd gleam in his eye. "That's better," he murmured, but instead of returning to his position in the seat, he remained tilted - very near Sanzo.  
  
"...No," Sanzo muttered, barely audible, even to Hakkai who was so close in proximity.  
  
"No?"  
  
"No."  
  
Somewhat lazily, Hakkai smiled and removed the cigarette, replacing it with his lips; the kiss was gentle and slow. The youkai eventually broke away, but Sanzo caught the back of his head and received Hakkai's quick tongue, sucking slightly as his own slid alongside and circled around.  
  
Hakkai pushed in deeper, his arm snaking around Sanzo's neck, careful to keep the cigarette away, as his free hand went to the man's waist and attempted to stay, but drifted southward ever so slightly... He kept the both of them satisfied with just his lips, however.  
  
Sanzo ran his tongue along Hakkai's bottom lip before pulling away entirely, motioning to the snoring duo in the back for his reasoning.  
  
"Mm, yes, but they are out..." murmured Hakkai, mostly to himself as he sat upright again in the driver's seat. More audible, he asked, "We've been in this place long enough; shall I wake Jiipu and continue driving to the nearest town?"  
  
Tilting his head to the sky, Sanzo replied to Hakkai's surprise, "...Wait until morning, and let the dragon sleep through the night so he won't overheat come evening."  
  
Hakkai stared at his companion for a bit, his thoughts quite full, before he relaxed back into the seat and began the long process of struggling for comfort. In between positions, he noticed that the crickets' noises had increased and Goku, especially, began to snore quite loudly, but Sanzo still kept his open eyes to the sky, looking quite peaceful. "Keep staring at it and I might start to think that you actually like the night."  
  
"It's not the night I object to," Sanzo clarifed, "it's the annoying noises that accompany it."  
  
This satisfied Hakkai as he closed his eyes.  
  


**End**

  
  



End file.
